Have you heard of the apocalypse? There is a book in the Bible that sometimes is referred to by that name: Revelation. Do you know what is happening in that book? An exile on a small rocky island has been watching; then he has been writing. John the Apostle is this watching Roman castaway.
As I was thinking through the particulars for a lesson on Revelation chapter 21, my mind went back to the book of John. That fourth biography of Jesus of Nazareth seems to have been authored by the watching disciple. Before the watching disciple began his writing, he followed another by the same name: John the Baptist. This desert baptizer was one day in the midst of his obedient life calling people to repentance when along came Jesus.
As Jesus arrived, John the Baptist spoke up, and John the Apostle recorded him as saying but five words: “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The narrative of the apostle said that two disciples heard the baptizer say these words. One of these two was John, the apostle. He followed, and this initial episode led to a life of following, of watching. [Read more…] about Watching Jesus. John the Apostle, did it. Do we?